[username444]

Thanks, I hadn't seen this article.

And yes, they might save money on snow removal. Downtown Toronto though, I don't see it. Even if 3 blocks have heated sidewalks, the sidewalk plow has to drive over them to reach the next segment. Those costs wouldn't decrease.

Saving on salting and sidewalk damage from freeze/thaw could be impactful.

But the cost of digging up sidewalks (which happens _all the time_) would increase significantly. Then there's the added expenses of maintenance - leaky pipes that requiring digging up the sidewalk.

The installation and maintenance requires skilled labour - union plumbers. Installing concrete sidewalks and plowing requires much lower wages.

Overall, the article makes no solid argument for it saving money, and does nothing more than speculate it could be cost saving. Where's the actual numbers from other cities who have implemented this?

[jdsully]

Toronto already has a steam system that goes through the downtown core. It’s not that far to pipe some of it to the surface.